In his junior year at Fort Frye, Grady Hesson just wrapped up a season where he compiled an unbelievable 13-0 record with an earned run average below 0.40 with the majority of his success coming as a starting pitcher.

Friday night Hesson was called upon in relief as defending state champion Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 traveled to Marietta to play Post 64 at Pioneer Park and the right hander picked dominated once again to lead Beverly/Lowell to a 5-1 win.

Hesson entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning after starting pitcher Dominic Fry left the game due to an injury and promptly fired four innings of shutout baseball allowing just two hits while fanning 11.

“Dom (Fry) did a really good job and I just had to come in and finish what he started,” said Hesson. “This team is as close to each other as we were last year and we are playing for each other really well right now and we all want to win.”

Fry was solid and appeared to be well on his way to picking up the victory as the Cadets scored a solo run in the second inning and two more in the top of the third.

In the top of the second inning with one out catcher JR Curry drew a walk and one out later pinch-runner Austyn Kephart scored when center fielder Jack McCurdy went the opposite way for a single that plated the first B/L run of the game.

Post 389/750 took advantage of a Marietta error in the top of the third to plate two more runs.

Right fielder Easton Walker reached first base on one of two Post 64 errors in the game and first baseman Kainan Bradford was hit by a pitch.

Designated hitter Wyatt Siley brought one run in with a run-scoring single and Hesson got in on the act with an RBI hit of his own to make it 3-0.

Fry had been cruising along pretty well in the early part of the game and even got a little help from his friends when then third baseman Hesson made an outstanding, over-the-shoulder catch on the first Marietta batter of the game.

Marietta came up with their first and only run of the game in the bottom of the third inning when the top three batters in their order drew a walk against Fry.

Fry was able to minimize the damage though as he got Logan Fling to hit a sacrifice fly and then retired Jace Hilverding on a line drive to left to end the inning.

When Fry was unable to return to the mound for the last of the fourth, Beverly/Lowell head coach Todd Engle brought Hesson in from third base to pitch and he did exactly what his head coach expected him to do and that was to dominate.

He struck out the side in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before punching out a pair in the bottom of the seventh to seal the deal.

Singles by Tornes and Tyler Cameron kept him from being perfect.

“We threw Grady right to the fire because he didn’t have a lot of time to get ready,” said Engle of Hesson. “He came in and did what Grady has done all year long.”

Beverly/Lowell added two more insurance in the top of the seventh when Walker singled and Bradford followed with a long drive that went over the 2012 Marietta College Championship Banner in right-center field for a two-run home run to increase the lead to 5-1.

Bradford got the pitch he was looking for from Marietta relief pitcher Casey Burkhammer and didn’t miss it by any stretch of the imagination.

“We know these guys so well that I knew I wasn’t going to get too many good pitches to hit,” said Bradford. ” I got a curve ball the first pitch in the dirt so I was thinking fastball and I got what I wanted and hit it well.”

Getting those two runs gave Post 389/750 a bit of breathing room heading to the bottom of the seventh.

“We see KB (Bradford) in batting practice and we know he is more than capable of hitting the ball a long way,”said Engle of Bradford. “We were in a tight ball game with a great team and that was a good pick-me-up for us.”

The win was the seventh in a row for the Beverly/Lowell team to begin the season.

The loss dropped Marietta’s record to 3-2 as they are still waiting to play a game with a completed roster.

“We have had a lot of moving parts to start the season and we are still missing some guys so truth be told putting ourselves in a position late to win a game I think that is all we can ask for,” said Marietta head coach Chad Porter. “We’ve got to get into the rhythm of the game a little bit and once we get into a little bit of a game flow I’m confident we are going to get better.”

at Don and Sue Schaly Stadium at Pioneer Park

Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 5, Marietta Post 64 1

BL 012 000 2 — 5-6-0

M 001 000 0 — 1-4-2

WP; Grady Hesson: 4IP, 2H, 11 SO

Starter: Dominic Fry: 3IP, 2H, ER, 3BB, 4 SO.

LP: Jacob Sealey: 6.1 IP, 4H, 3R, ER, 2BB, 5 SO

Casey Burkhammer: .2 IP, 2H, 2R, SO.

Beverly/Lowell (7-0) hitting: Cam Sidwell 1-4, Easton Walker 1-3, 2R, Kainan Bradford 1-2, 2R, 2RBI, HR, Wyatt Siley 1-4, RBI, Grady Hesson 1-3, RBI, Jack McCurdy 1-3, RBI

Marietta (3-2) hitting: Will Tornes 1-3, R, Drew Warden 1-2, Tate Jonas 1-3, Tyler Cameron 1-3, Logan Fling: 0-2, SF, RBI.

Next Game: Saturday, Marietta at Zanesville, Sunday, Beverly/Lowell at Lancaster DH